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Category Archives: Futurism

How To Sell A Nanotechnology Revolution

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Pixelligent scientists prepare nanocrystals for use in LED applications. (Credit: Pixelligent)

Last week, Baltimore-based nanotech firm Pixelligent Technologies closed a funding round of $5.5 million to continue its development and growth. This marks a total of $23 million in equity funding the firm has raised to date, plus another $10 million its received in the form of government grants to develop its technology.

Pretty impressive, considering that the company was on its deathbed a few years ago.

Pixelligent was founded in the year 2000 by Gregory Cooper shortly after he received his Ph.D. in Physics. Cooper, who is currently the CTO of the company, was soon joined by two colleagues: Serpil Gonen Williams, a chemist, and Gene Chen, an electrical engineer, both of whom are still with the company.

The original vision of the company was to use its expertise in nanomaterials to develop composites for use in optical lithography, a process used for the manufacture of computer chips. However, the semiconductor business is a tough one, as the company discovered. Despite awards during its incubator phase, its attempts to raise enough money to develop its technology for the market failed.

The combination of this and a failed commercial partnership sent the company into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March of 2007. One year later, in March of 2008, the Court appointed Craig Bandes as the companys Chief Restructuring Officer. At the time, Bandes was President and CEO of Global Secure Corp. Prior to that, he had cofounded Focus Technology Consulting. Despite these successes, he didnt have an easy task ahead of him in rescuing the struggling startup.

I helped them work through process of reorganization, settling litigation with partner that didnt work out, and getting control of its IP, Bandes told me. As a consultant, I gave the company about a 10-20% chance of survival.

The company emerged from bankruptcy in April of 2009 with a plan for growth that involved moving away from the semiconductor market and a new President and CEO Craig Bandes. Bandes credits the successful emergence from bankruptcy to the companys strong foundation.

The only thing that didnt need to be turned around was the technology, he said.

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How To Sell A Nanotechnology Revolution

A Sunrise Viewed From The Edge Of Space

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Sunrise at the edge of space captured by a World View test flight. (Credit: World View Enterprises)

On a commercial flight in October for its customers Tencent and Moon Express, World ViewExperience managed to capture a breathtaking video of the sunrise as seen from the edge of space, around 100,000 feet above the Earths surface.

World View, a spinoff of Paragon Space Development, is a space tourism startup that aims to take passengers high enough into the air over 100,000 feet to the edge of space where people are actually able to see the curvature of the Earth itself. The company will also be providing opportunities for companies and organizations looking to do research in the upper atmosphere.

The capsule itself is intended to be a luxury experience, featuring WiFi capabilities and an open bar. Passengers have no need to worry about their drinks floating away as there wont be any of the experience of zero-gravity. The capsule itself is lifted by a large balloon, which takes about an hour and a half to reach full altitude. The six passengers will then spend about two hours experiencing the Earth from that altitude before making the 40 minute return glide back to the surface.

World Views engineers recently made headlines as partof a joint project with Paragon that sent Google Google executive Alan Eustace on a record-breaking space dive. That project, World View CTO Taber MacCallum told me at the time, went a long way to helping develop the companys technology.

Right now, the company aims to begin flying in late2016. Tickets for flights are currently $75,000, and potential travelers arealready putting down deposits for tickets.

Check out the full sunrise video below:

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A Sunrise Viewed From The Edge Of Space

Exclusive: Shigeto Premieres 'Tide Pools' From 'Ghostly Swim 2'

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In 2014, surprising artistic collaborations have become the norm in popular music. But the record label Ghostly International and the TV network Adult Swim were ahead of the curve: they worked together for the first time back in 2008, creating Ghostly Swim, a compilation album full of "exploratory dance and pop music." To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the label, the two creative entities are connecting again for Ghostly Swim 2.Today, Billboard is exclusively premiering a song from the album, Shigeto's "Tide Pools." Listen below.

Sam Valenti, who founded Ghostly International, says "the collaboration with Adult Swim came naturally. Being a giant Tim and Eric fan the bumps on Adult Swim were part of my psyche." After the success of Ghostly Swim, Valenti would "meet fans at shows, [and] many would say that it was their introduction to electronic music." That made him think a second volume would be well-received.

"For this one," he tells Billboard, "I wanted to focus on the internal, finding a meditative and reflective sound. The artists chosen included weren't on Ghostly Swim, and we sought out some new faces... like harpist Mary Lattimore from Buffalo and Swim Team's AceMo, plus newer Ghostly singings like Lord Raja."

Fitting with Valenti's plan for a more "meditative and reflective sound," the press material accompanying Swim 2 reaches back to Brian Eno, the English musician and producer credited as the primary pioneer of ambient music. That means listeners should prepare for soothing textures, loops, and subtle changes, which Shigeto's "Tide Pools" provides in spades. But the song also has a clear pulse: A gentle, pleasantly glitchy rhythm with chimes and soft bells that drift and wash.

As for Shigeto, he remembers the impact the first edition of Ghostly Swim had on him. "I had brought it home from the Ghostly office," he tells Billboard. "I had it on rotation in my car for years, literally years, so many good tracks on there." At the time, he was interning at the label. "I lasted three days," he jokes. "I could probably type 15 words a minute, and my only reason for being there was to pester them to put my music out." But the combination of his pestering and his production talent paid off, and he's "proud to be a part of a project from two platforms I respect so much."

The compilation Ghostly Swim 2 arrives Dec. 23. Check out the track list below.

1. Pascal - Holo 2. Shigeto - Tide Pools 3. Anenon - Grapevine 4. Heathered Pearls - Supra 5. Babe Rainbow - Don't Tell Me I'm Wrong 6. Dauwd - Kolido 7. Patricia - Spotting 8. Lord RAJA - Spilt Out In Cursive 9. CFCF - Oil 10. Feral - Mirror 11. Mary Lattimore & Jeff Zeigler - I Only Have Eyes for You 12. AceMo - Futurism 13. Nautiluss - Lonely Planet

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Exclusive: Shigeto Premieres 'Tide Pools' From 'Ghostly Swim 2'

Grey Goo: An Unclean RTS (in a Good Way)

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Dropping into a skirmish in Petroglyphs Grey Goo for the first time felt like opening the door to my apartment on an otherwise normal day... and finding a swimming pool. Its a base-building RTS in the vein of Command & Conquer and all of its ilk. You gather resources and make little dudes to kill the opponents dudes and blow up their buildings. I figured I knew what to expect. And yet, I was taken by surprise by the very goo that lends its name to the title.

This particular interstellar war is set in a sci-fi future where humanity and a scrappy alien race known as the Beta are threatened by grey goo. It may sound like an unpalatable-but-not-life-threatening European sandwich spread. But the term actually refers to a hypothesis in science fiction and futurism which speculates that advanced, self-replicating nanobots could theoretically get out of control and begin converting all matter in the universe into more nanobotswhich may appear, to human eyes, as a sort of grey goo. Humans, Beta, and the Goo are all playable in the 15-mission campaign as well as AI skirmish and multiplayer. While the anthropoid factions build, expand, and fight just about how a veteran RTS player would expect, the goo the proverbial swimming pool in the room is a totally different animal.

As the goo, you have no buildings. Rather, you begin with a large, mobile blob called the Mother Goo that serves all the functions of a well-stocked base of operations. This maternal pustule of destruction parks itself over any of the resource nodes scattered around the map and begins to gain mass. Once a certain amount is acquired, it can split off a part of itself, reducing its health and size, to create either another Mother Goo (to slither off and found an expansion base), or an amorphous lump called a Protean that can morph into a variety of military units.

While most RTSes these days make an effort to introduce asymmetrical factions with unique resource-gathering and base management mechanics, the goo are probably the most mold-breaking army Ive ever gotten my hands on. Regardless, its the first time Ive been able to switch my faction and almost feel like I was playing a totally different game. No part of your army or economy is ever fixed to one spot, and it takes some mental gymnastics to get into the rhythm of what you should be doing at any given point in a match especially if your mind is pre-wired for more traditional RTS gameplay.

Apart from the oozing originality of the goo, there are some other, cool innovations stuck to the formula. Maps feature obscuring brush not unlike that in Dota and League of Legends, which blocks vision of units within to any player who doesnt have a spotter unit inside the brush themselves. It also serves as a twist on the traditional air-vs-ground struggle, as air units flying over brush are unable to get a read on whats inside without ground support. Many can cut loose blindly on anything that looks like a tree with the hopes of decimating whatevers lurking below, but a clever opponent can bait your aerial fire into an empty grove while the real army marches around to your back door.

The goo are probably the most mold-breaking army Ive ever gotten my hands on.

The three campaign missions available in the preview told the tale of the alien Beta having their homeworld invaded by technologically superior humans. Said humans were, presumably, fleeing from the Grey Goo, the origins of which were not revealed. But Im pretty sure it was the humans fault. Campaign maps and objectives were not particularly outstanding, but the story presentation is just about as polished as anything else in the genre. Full CGI cutscenes introduce key narrative points, and the principal characters are well-acted and animated. The Beta, portrayed by a talented cast of South African voice actors, were particularly endearing.

Well all be able to see the rest of the story of Grey Goo unfold on January 23. The remaining campaign missions will launch alongside ELO-based matchmaking for 1v1 and 2v2, as well as custom games and a map editor. I, for one, am looking forward to it. But Ill probably try to wear gloves next time.

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Grey Goo: An Unclean RTS (in a Good Way)

Gameplay Commentary

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Dropping into a skirmish in Petroglyphs Grey Goo for the first time felt like opening the door to my apartment on an otherwise normal day... and finding a swimming pool. Its a base-building RTS in the vein of Command & Conquer and all of its ilk. You gather resources and make little dudes to kill the opponents dudes and blow up their buildings. I figured I knew what to expect. And yet, I was taken by surprise by the very goo that lends its name to the title.

This particular interstellar war is set in a sci-fi future where humanity and a scrappy alien race known as the Beta are threatened by grey goo. It may sound like an unpalatable-but-not-life-threatening European sandwich spread. But the term actually refers to a hypothesis in science fiction and futurism which speculates that advanced, self-replicating nanobots could theoretically get out of control and begin converting all matter in the universe into more nanobotswhich may appear, to human eyes, as a sort of grey goo. Humans, Beta, and the Goo are all playable in the 15-mission campaign as well as AI skirmish and multiplayer. While the anthropoid factions build, expand, and fight just about how a veteran RTS player would expect, the goo the proverbial swimming pool in the room is a totally different animal.

As the goo, you have no buildings. Rather, you begin with a large, mobile blob called the Mother Goo that serves all the functions of a well-stocked base of operations. This maternal pustule of destruction parks itself over any of the resource nodes scattered around the map and begins to gain mass. Once a certain amount is acquired, it can split off a part of itself, reducing its health and size, to create either another Mother Goo (to slither off and found an expansion base), or an amorphous lump called a Protean that can morph into a variety of military units.

While most RTSes these days make an effort to introduce asymmetrical factions with unique resource-gathering and base management mechanics, the goo are probably the most mold-breaking army Ive ever gotten my hands on. Regardless, its the first time Ive been able to switch my faction and almost feel like I was playing a totally different game. No part of your army or economy is ever fixed to one spot, and it takes some mental gymnastics to get into the rhythm of what you should be doing at any given point in a match especially if your mind is pre-wired for more traditional RTS gameplay.

Apart from the oozing originality of the goo, there are some other, cool innovations stuck to the formula. Maps feature obscuring brush not unlike that in Dota and League of Legends, which blocks vision of units within to any player who doesnt have a spotter unit inside the brush themselves. It also serves as a twist on the traditional air-vs-ground struggle, as air units flying over brush are unable to get a read on whats inside without ground support. Many can cut loose blindly on anything that looks like a tree with the hopes of decimating whatevers lurking below, but a clever opponent can bait your aerial fire into an empty grove while the real army marches around to your back door.

The goo are probably the most mold-breaking army Ive ever gotten my hands on.

The three campaign missions available in the preview told the tale of the alien Beta having their homeworld invaded by technologically superior humans. Said humans were, presumably, fleeing from the Grey Goo, the origins of which were not revealed. But Im pretty sure it was the humans fault. Campaign maps and objectives were not particularly outstanding, but the story presentation is just about as polished as anything else in the genre. Full CGI cutscenes introduce key narrative points, and the principal characters are well-acted and animated. The Beta, portrayed by a talented cast of South African voice actors, were particularly endearing.

Well all be able to see the rest of the story of Grey Goo unfold on January 23. The remaining campaign missions will launch alongside ELO-based matchmaking for 1v1 and 2v2, as well as custom games and a map editor. I, for one, am looking forward to it. But Ill probably try to wear gloves next time.

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Gameplay Commentary

A SYM card to cubism

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STILL Kalabasa

Strange how one epithet of a word, uttered in confusion, can grow to have a life of its own. Ironic, too, that the perpetrator of such mischief could be the most influential critic of the time.

One such word was the cubeand one such critic was someone named Louis Vauxcelles. He first heard the word from Matisse, the reputed rival of Picasso, who told the critic, Braque has just sent in[to the 1908 Salon dAutomne] a painting made of little cubes. Matisse was referring to a painting that depicted simplified, boxy shapes of houses with deconstructed perspective. Braque and Picasso had worked so closely that the latter had described their relationship, thus: We were like mountaineers roped together.

Thence in an exhibition of Cubist works, the critic disparagingly described them as bizarreries cubiques. And thus the term Cubism came to be.

Cubism became the first abstract style, characterized by its rejection of perspective and its emphasis on a multiple perspective.

The Cubists wanted an art that recognized the changing world, now reflected in the advancement of photography and cinematography. The invention of the telephone, the motor car and the airplane destroyed the boundaries of communication and travel.

STATUE of David 1

The impact of Cubism was felt by artists in Germany, Holland, Italy, England, America and Russia. In Italy, an outgrowth of Cubism was called Futurism, which celebrated speed, violence and the mechanization of the modern world. In America, the Cubist practitioners depicted the New York landscape of soaring skyscrapers, speeding automobiles and wide-spanning iron bridges.

Alas, after a little more than a decade, Cubism quickly fell into disrepute. An art historian, Paul Johnson, wrote, Being the first form of fashion art, Cubism itself was soon abandoned by all its abler practitioners, who moved on to new styles. By 1930 there was no artist so out-of-date as a Cubist. It had however a curious persistence in the works of countless artists of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, who wished to paint in a figurative manner but who also wished to identify themselves as modern. Indeed, while Marcel Duchamp was referring to a painting, he might as well be alluding to an art movement, when he said that after 40 or 50 years, a picture dies, because its freshness disappears. I think a painting dies after a few years like the man who painted it. Afterwards its called the history of art.

In the Philippines, one such artist was Vicente Manansala, whose name became most closely associated with the term Transparent Cubism. Like the original Cubists, Manansala favored the still life. Thus he fragmented the forms of fruits and vegetables, kitchen and domestic scenes, and later, human figures such as beggars, candle vendors, sabungeros, and Mother and Child.

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A SYM card to cubism

Jason Silva, host of National Geographics Brain Games, encourages Canadians to challenge theirs in Mediaplanets …

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(PRWEB) December 13, 2014

The print component of Neurological Conditions is distributed within the National Post, a circulation of approximately 160, 000 copies and an estimated readership of 420,000. The digital component is distributed nationally through a vast social media strategy and across a network of top news sites and partner outlets. To explore the digital version of the campaign, click here.

In an exclusive interview, Mediaplanet had the chance to talk to Jason Silva, the host of National Geographics award winning series, Brain Games. He shared his thoughts on human creativity, futurism, and how we can extend the boundaries of our minds. He notes, Knowledge is addicting. Humans get a hit of dopamine in the brain whenever were exposed to novel stimuli.We have an insatiable urge to understand, to question, to deconstruct what is fascinating.

Another editorial featuring Carrie Maclean, mother of two, shares how she took charge of her multiple sclerosis, did her research, and played an active role in her treatment. This is not a death sentence. This disease is manageable. You can live a long life. She adds that, The research is changing so fast. You need to be your own best advocate.

Special thanks to Genzyme Canada, Cynapsus Therapeutics, Biogen Idec, Kalgene Pharmaceuticals, Weston Brain Institute, Epilepsy Canada, the University Health Network, Brain Canada, Ontario Science Centre and Neurological Health Charities Canada for their support and contributions in the making of this campaign.

About Mediaplanet Mediaplanet is the leading independent publisher of content-marketing campaigns covering a variety of topics and industries. We turn consumer interest into action by providing readers with motivational editorial, pairing it with relevant advertisers, and distributing it within top newspapers and online platforms around the world.

# # #

Press Contact: Sonja Draskovic sonja(dot)draskovic(at)mediaplanet(dot)com 416-583-2215

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Jason Silva, host of National Geographics Brain Games, encourages Canadians to challenge theirs in Mediaplanets ...

Velocity: Sasha Grishin review of exhibition at ANU

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Merilyn Fairsky, Stati d'Animo 2006.

It was Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, the leader of the Italian Futurists who defiantly declared: "We affirm that the world's magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing car whose hood is adorned with great pipes, like serpents of explosive breath a roaring car that seems to ride on grapeshot is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace."

That was back in 1909. Now, more than a century later, speed in the urban environment has not only transformed our physical world, but also our metaphysical state of being and the way we operate and survive in this environment.

The Russian Supremacists argued that speed of locomotion defined the way we saw the world and the way we depicted it in art. When a person could not move faster than a speeding horse, there was a holistic understanding of the world, which resulted in realism. With steam trains, the world became fragmented to the eye and Futurism and Cubism were the resulting styles. With the speed and complexity of urban life and the advent of aerial photography, this fragmentation lead to abstraction.

Gilbert Bel-Bachir, Untitled Sydney 2010.

Velocity is quite an outstanding and challenging exhibition, one of the best which I have seen at the Drill Hall Gallery for a very long time. Terence Maloon, in a lucid catalogue essay, discusses the ideas of Paul Virilio, the French cultural theorist who has published extensively on speed, technology and the urban environment.

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In a famous pronouncement, Virilio wrote "The virtual city is the city of all cities. It is each important city (Singapore, Rotterdam, Paris, Milan, etc.) becoming the borough of a hyper city, while ordinary cities become in some sense suburbs.This metropolisation of cities leads us to conceive of a hyper-centre, a real-time city, and thousands of cities left to their own devices. If I am correct, this would lead to a pauperisation, not of continents but of cities, in all regions of the world."

This exhibition to some extent is about the "pauperisation" of cities around the world with the sense of anonymity, alienation and a disconnect between what it means to be human and to inhabit a space which destroys the sense of being human. The idea is not a new one, what is new about the exhibition is the selection of artists which Maloon has assembled through which to explore this concept.

Jon Cattapan, Imagine a raft (hard rubbish no. 1)

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Velocity: Sasha Grishin review of exhibition at ANU

St. Vincent shredded all, including convention

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While the inanimate "David Bowie Is" exhibit remained on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Tuesday, a living embodiment of much of what the Thin White Duke symbolized was busy thrilling a near-capacity crowd a few blocks away at the Chicago Theatre. St. Vincent (real name Annie Clark) championed unfettered expressionism and individuality during a 90-minute set in which her music went through chameleon-like changes.

Akin to Bowie, St. Vincent values anxiety-ridden songs that blend various disciplines and resist easy description. She also embraces shape-shifting appearances, often altering her hair and fashion as she continues to transform from a once-guarded performer into a confident, fearless whirlwind. Near the end of the concert, Clark abandoned her three-piece band, crawled off the stage, waded into the audience and collided with fans en route to the rear of the venue. She then jumped on a man's shoulders, returned to the stage on his back, tumbled around, executed a headstand and finally collapsed.

The exhilarating sequence radiated control and chaos, apparent contradictions that have come to define St. Vincent's limits-pushing originality. Few contemporaries experienced a stronger breakout stretch of late than the New York-based singer, who used her 2012 collaborative record and subsequent tour with David Byrne as creative springboards. During the past ten months, St. Vincent played with the surviving members of Nirvana, released an acclaimed album (the self-titled "St. Vincent") and dominated this summer's Pitchfork Festival. If the increasingly commanding sound of her guitar serves as any indication, the momentum won't fade anytime soon.

"Hello freaks," said St. Vincent, greeting the crowd after finishing an extended trumpet blast of a six-string solo steeped in sustain and distortion. "I think we have a few things in common," she announced, launching into one of several eclectic monologues about perception and reality. Her unorthodox persona mirrored the outre futurism of her choreographed theatricality and animatronic movements. Augmented by restless fare such as the percolating "Digital Witness," vicious "Huey Newton" and spring-loaded "Birth In Reverse," the visuals provided smart, caustic commentary on modern life.

St. Vincent further conveyed paranoia, violence, coldness and isolation via unsettling lyrics delivered via innocuous, upper-range singing. Disparities between the disruptive narratives, lush melodies, nervous instrumental structures and delicate vocals suggested turmoil lurking just beneath the surfaces and that, like the rabid-hearted lover she couldn't make heel on "Bring Me Your Loves," it refused to be contained.

Shuffling about in a black dress and high heels, the vocalist savored moments when fissures appeared, alternating between shredding notes and intruding with spastic runs on her guitar. "The truth is ugly / Well, I feel ugly too," she sang amid the turbulence, her flair for the dramatic balanced by casual poise and blunt honesty befitting an artist for whom nothing seems out of reach.

ctc-arts@tribpub.com

Twitter @chitribent

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St. Vincent shredded all, including convention


  1. Futurism